EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Davis administration has taken a bold and innovative approach to international geopolitical relations and tapping into non- traditional sources of funding and investment possibilities. Previous governments relied on the USA, Canada, the UK and Central and South American nations for trade, industry and tourists. This platform worked well over the past decades and pre-pandemic environment. The advent of the pandemic, however, along with the devastation wrecked in the travel industry has made it mandatory for many countries, inclusive of The Bahamas, to come up with out-of-the-box solutions and national funding.

While it is a given that the vast majority of our tourists will continue to come from the traditional markets, the Arab world world and the Middle East are potential sources of everything that we need in The Bahamas. Their combined populations exceed almost a billion. If we were to aggressively market our country as a place where their residents would want to come to relax; unwind and to invest in assorted industries, especially in agriculture; fisheries; gas and oil our Gross Domestic Product would increase dramatically. On the real estate side our Arabian brothers and sisters have deep pockets and huge established national sovereign funds.

On the real estate side I am convinced that tens of thousands of them would want to own or lease condominiums and luxury homes and even entire islands. For the past twenty or so years our political directorate would appear to have favored the Chinese investors. Baha Mar the Pointe and the Hilton in downtown Nassau were all financed and are owned by Chinese state-sponsored corporate entities. At some point during the Christie administration it is alleged that the Peoples Republic of China was seeking to gain a foothold in our agriculture industry generally and Andros in particular. That fizzled out.

If we were looking at possibilities that we could joint venture with our Arabian friends in the United Arab Emirates (UEA); Saudi Arabia; Bahrain and the people of Israel who have developed a knack for being able to cultivate crops and fruits literally out of the vast deserts in their country, we must embrace even additional contacts and exchange visits.

The Most Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, QC, MP and his administration have launched a major targeting of those whom I refer to as Arabian Knights. As a boy growing up and attending what was then Southern Junior School, but now Columbus Primary School a classical book favorite was: ‘Arabian Nights’ so I bow make a play on those words by saying; Arabian “Knights”. They are, with their vast oil wealth and bloated sovereign wealth funds, low hanging apples, so to speak. Already we are seeing the benefits of the much lambasted trip made by the PM and a large delegation in January of this year.

There have been visits to The Bahamas by key players from Dubai; Saudi Arabia and the UAE at the ministerial levels. Several Memoranda of Understanding have already been executed. In short order, the newly minted Minister of Agriculture & Local Government, the Hon. Clay Sweeting, will be leading a delegation to the UAE and other countries in that region to attend several high powered conferences and expositions. Whatever the costs for this trip will be it will be monies well spent in my opinion.

In fairy tales, the damsel in distress would usually be rescued by a knight in shining armor. In the real world, however, The Bahamas is not a damsel in distress, but we too, can use a knight or two from the Arabian Peninsular to help us grow and revitalise our economy and infrastructure. There are some fabled ‘giants’ and dragons who must be tamed or slayed, if necessary. We have: relatively high unemployment and under employment; fiscal melt down; lack of sustainable funding for major projects, such as airports; bridges and roads; a purpose designed Supreme Court and Parliamentary Complex and the list goes on and on.

I strongly urge the Davis administration to consider appointing an ambassador level Bahamian to the Arabian Peninsular and the Middle East. The Bahamas is now recognized on the international stage. The PM has visited the UN; Washington, DC; The UK and Scotland; Dubai; Barbados and Jamaica. The former PM did what he could have done, I believe, to elevate our nation geopolitically, but he appeared more focused on the authority and trappings of office than actual boots on the ground the way Davis is doing. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they like to say.

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr

Nassau,

February 19, 2022.